

























state of Connecticut 


Chapter 265 
Public Acts, 1909 


Concerning Political 
Primaries and Caucuses 



Hartford, Conn. 

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[Substitute for House Bill No. 297.] 
CHAPTER 265. 

AN ACT CONCERNING POLITICAL 
PRIMARIES AND CAUCUSES. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 
Representatives in General Assembly 
convened: 

Section i. In every town 
Sessions of regis- in which an election is to 
trars for enrolment. be held during the month 

of March, April, May, June, 
July, or August, the registrars of voters shall 
annually be in session on the first and second 
Fridays of February, and in every town in 
which an election is to be held during the 
month of September, October, November, De¬ 
cember, January, or February, the registrars 
of voters shall annually be in session on the 
first and second Fridays of August, for the 
purpose of making an enrolment of the legal 
voters of such towns, and for the purpose of 
making such changes in the enrolment lists 
last perfected as are hereinafter provided for. 
Said registrars may hold sessions at such 


I 


other times as they may deem necessary; pro¬ 
vided, that no sessions shall be held on the 
day when a caucus or primary shall be held, 
and all sessions shall be from twelve o’clock 
noon until nine o’clock in the evening. 


Sec. 2. Notice of all ses¬ 
sions, and of the time and 
place thereof, shall be given 
by such registrars by pub¬ 
lication at least twice in a 
newspaper published in or 


Notice of sessions 
to be published 
twice in a local 
newspaper. 


having a circulation in the town where such 
sessions are to be held, and by posting notice 
thereof upon the public signpost in said town, 
not less than one week before such sessions. 
In towns, citieSj or boroughs divided into 
voting districts or wards, and in which deputy 
registrars are now provided by daw and ap¬ 
pointed for each of said voting districts or 
wards, said deputy registrars shall be in ses¬ 
sion in each district or ward, for the purpose 
of making such enrolment, and such changes 
and corrections in the . enrolment list last 
perfected as are hereinafter provided for; 
and the time and place for holding such ses¬ 
sions in such voting districts or wards shall 
be specified in the notice hereinbefore pro¬ 
vided. Within forty-eight hours after the 
close of each of said sessions, each of said 
deputy registrars shall deliver to the registrar 
of whom he is the appointee, a true and at¬ 
tested list or lists, as made by him, showing 
all enrolments and corrections by him made, 


2 


together with a list of all applications rejected 
under the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 3. Said registrars at 
Registrars to make Said sessions shall compile 

lists according to separate lists of all quali- 

politiclprefsrence. (5^^ electors making appli- 
cation for enrolment ac¬ 
cording to the declared political preference of 
said electors. In those towns having cities or 
boroughs within, and not coterminous with, 
their limits, said registrars shall prepare sep¬ 
arate lists for use in such cities or boroughs; 
and when cities or boroughs are divided into 
wards or voting districts, then for such wards 
or voting districts. Unless application for eras¬ 
ure or transfer is made, said registrars shall 
continue thereon the names of all qualified 
electors appearing upon the lists last perfected; 
provided, however, that when any elector 
whose name appears upon said last-perfected 
list has ceased to be a legal voter in the town, 
or, in a town divided into voting districts or 
wards, when an elector whose name so appears 
has removed from one voting district or ward 
to another voting district or ward in said town, 
and has forfeited his right to vote in the vot¬ 
ing district or ward from which he has so 
removed, and as hereinafter provided, then 
said registrars may erase such name. In all 
cases where an erasure is made because of 
the removal of an elector from one voting 
district or ward to another voting district or 
ward in the same town, the registrar or 


3 


deputy registrar making such erasure shall, 
within twenty-four hours, report such erasure 
to the registrar or deputy registrar of the 
same political party in the voting district or 
ward to which such elector has removed, and 
such registrar or deputy registrar shall add 
such name to the list of those of the same 
political preference in such district or ward, 
unless otherwise directed by said elector. 

Sec. 4. At any session 
Applications for of ‘he registrars herein 

enrolment on party provided for, any elector 
ist. may make application to 

the registrar of the politi¬ 
cal party with the caucuses or primaries of 
which he desires to affiliate, and his name 
shall, except as otherwise provided, be entered 
by said registrar upon the list of electors of 
that political party. In all cases where ap¬ 
plication is made for enrolment, the appli¬ 
cant, in addition to stating the name of the 
political party on the caucus or primary list 
of which he desires to be enrolled, shall state 
that he is not a member of, or connected with, 
any political party other than that in which 
enrolment is then being sought by him, and 
all applications for enrolment shall state the 
street and number, if any, at which the appli¬ 
cant resides. In towns, cities, or boroughs 
divided into voting districts or wards, and 
for which deputy registrars are provided, ap¬ 
plication for enrolment shall be made to the 
deputy registrar in the voting district or ward 


4 


in which such elector is legally entitled to 
vote at the time of making said application. 

If any registrar or deputy 
Refusal of applica- registrar to whom any such 
tion and hearing application is made or pre- 

thereon. sented shall have reason 

to believe that the elector 
making such application is not in good faith 
affiliated with the political party with which 
he seeks enrolment and does not intend to 
support its principles or candidates, such reg¬ 
istrar or deputy registrar shall not enter the 
name of such applicant upon such list, but 
such registrar shall, on or before the second 
day following that upon which such appli¬ 
cation was made, give notice in writing to 
such applicant, which notice shall be served 
upon or left with such elector, and return 
^ thereof made, and hearing had in the same 
manner as in the case of a citation as pro¬ 
vided in section five. If it shall appear to such 
registrar and the chairman or party mem¬ 
ber, or to the deputy registrar and the chair¬ 
man or party member, as the case may be, as 
hereinafter provided, that it is not the bona 
fide intention of such applicant to affiliate 
with, and support the principles or candi¬ 
dates of, such political party, the name of 
such applicant shall not be entered upon such 
party list. In case the applicant shall not 
appear at the time and place fixed for such 
examination, his name shall not be entered 
upon such list. 


5 


Sec. s. Whenever the 
Erasure from part, registrar of voters of any 
lists, and hearings political party, or any 

thereon. deputy registrar thereof in 

cases where it is provided 
by law that the deputy registrar shall act in 
the place and stead of the registrar, shall be 
of the opinion that any person on the enrol¬ 
ment list of the political party which said 
registrar or deputy registrar represents is 
not affiliated with, or in good faith a mem¬ 
ber of, that political party, and does not in¬ 
tend to support its principles or candidates, 
said registrar or deputy registrar, as the 
case may be, shall cite such person to appear 
before himself and the chairman of the town 
committee of such political party, or before 
himself and the chairman of the same party 
committee of the ward or voting district, if 
in a town divided into wards or voting dis¬ 
tricts ; or, where there is no such chairman, 
or in the absence or disability of such chair¬ 
man, before himself and any enrolled member 
of the same political party chosen by such 
registrar or deputy registrar, to show cause 
why his name should not be erased from said 
enrolment list. Such citation shall be in writ¬ 
ing, and shall state the time when and place 
where such person shall appear, and shall be 
served upon or left at the usual place of abode 
of such person at least two days before the 
time fixed for such hearing upon said citation, 
which time shall not be less than one week 


6 


before the next succeeding caucus or primary 
of such political party. The person leaving 
or serving such citation shall make a record 
of the date and time of leaving or serving 
the same, and shall make a return to the regis¬ 
trar or deputy registrar, within thirty-six 
hours thereafter, of the date and time when 
such citation was left or served. If at any 
such hearing it shall appear to such registrar 
and such chairman or party member, or to 
such deputy registrar and such chairman or 
party member, as the case may be, that it is 
not the bona fide intention of said person to 
affiliate with, or that said person is not affiliat¬ 
ing with, such political party, and does not 
intend to support the principles or candidates 
of such party, his name may thereupon be 
\ erased from the enrolment list of such party. 
In case any elector upon whom a citation to 
appear, as herein provided, has been served, 
shall fail to appear at the time and place fixed 
for such hearing, said registrar or deputy reg¬ 
istrar may take such action as to the erasure 
of the name of such elector as the facts shall 
warrant. 


Sec. 6 . Enrolment in any 
other political party or or¬ 
ganization, active affiliation 
with any other political 


Prima facie evi¬ 
dence of party ap¬ 
plication. other 


Wvlld ^ ^ 

than that of enrol- party br organization, 

ment on party list. knowingly being a candi¬ 

date at any primary or 
caucus of any other party or political organi- 


7 


zation, or being a candidate for office upon the 
ticket of another party or organization within 
a period of two years prior to the date of 
the notice as hereinafter provided shall be 
prima facie evidence that any such elector is 
not affiliated with the party upon the enrol¬ 
ment list of which his name appears, and 
that such elector does not intend to longer 
affiliate with said party or organization; and, 
upon reasonable proof of any one of said acts, 
the name of any such elector may be stricken 
from said list. When the name of any such 
elector has been erased from such list be¬ 
cause of any such acts as specified in this 
section, the same procedure as to notice to 
appear thereon, return, and hearing shall be 
followed as provided in section five hereof. 
If, after full hearing, said registrar and chair¬ 
man or party member, or said deputy regis¬ 
trar and chairman or party member, as the 
case may be, shall find that the name of such 
elector has been wrongfully or improperly 
stricken from said list, such name shall be 
forthwith restored thereto. 

Sec. 7. At any hearing 
Hearings before provided for in this act any 

registrars as to re- elector Upon whom a cita- 

fusal to enrol or tioii or notice as herein 

erasure from list. provided has been served, 

.together with all persons 
offering themselves as witnesses, shall be 
sworn; and all registrars and deputy regis¬ 
trars are hereby authorized and empowered to 


administer, for that purpose, the oath pro¬ 
vided for 'witnesses. All persons cited to ap¬ 
pear before any registrar or deputy regis¬ 
trar under any of the provisions of this act 
shall have the right to appear either in per¬ 
son or by attorney; and when no witnesses 
are present at any such hearing to testify in 
favor of the removal of the name of an elector 
from any list on which the same appears, or 
against placing the name of an elector upon 
a party list, or against the restoration of the 
name of an elector to a party list from which 
the name of such elector has been removed, 
the registrar or deputy registrar before whom 
the hearing is held shall make a statement 
of the facts in his possession, showing why 
the name of any such elector should be erased 
from such party list, or why it should not be 
placed upon the party list as requested by 
the applicant, or why such name was stricken 
from the party list upon which it appeared. 

Sec. 8 . Any elector 
whose name has been re¬ 
moved from a party list in 
the manner herein pro¬ 
vided, and any elector 
whose application to have 
his name placed upon a 
party list has been refused, 
and who is aggrieved thereby, may, within 
ten days after such refusal, bring a petition 
before any judge of the superior court, court 
of common pleas, or district court of Water- 


Aggrieved elector 
may petition to 
judge of certain 
courts, where en¬ 
rolment refused or 
erased. 


9 


bury, or to a judge of any town, city or 
borough court having equitable jurisdiction 
in the town wherein the case arises, setting 
forth that the name of the petitioner has been 
unjustly or improperly removed from such 
list or excluded therefrom, as the case may 
be, and praying for an order directing such 
registrar or deputy registrar by whom such 
name was removed to restore such name or 
place the same upon such list. To such peti¬ 
tion shall be attached a recognizance, with 
proper surety, in a sum not less than fifty 
dollars, conditioned that the petitioner will 
prosecute such action to effect, and pay all 
proper costs of the adverse party in case he 
fail therein. Such petition shall be returnable 
not more than six days from the date thereof, 
and to the same shall be attached a citation 
commanding such registrar or deputy regis¬ 
trar in the name of the state to appear and 
show cause why such name should not be 
restored to such list or placed thereon. A 
true copy of such petition shall be served upon 
such registrar or deputy registrar at least 
four days before the return day thereof, and 
the judge before which such petition is re¬ 
turnable shall assign the same for a hearing 
at the earliest practicable date, and if, upon 
due hearing thereof, he shall find that the peti¬ 
tioner is entitled to relief, such judge shall 
issue an order directing said registrar or 
deputy registrar to forthwith restore the name 
of such elector to said list from which it was 


lO 


removed, or to place the name of such elector 
upon the list applied for, as the case may be; 
and any registrar or deputy registrar who 
shall fail to obey such order shall be deemed 
guilty of contempt, and may be fined not more 
than one hundred dollars. 

Sec. 9. Within ten days 
Enrolment lists to ^he completion of 

be filed with town each enrolment said regis- 
trars shall cause a sufficient 
number of copies of said 
corrected lists to be made, and shall file 
twenty-five copies of each with the town clerk, 
and shall deliver to the chairman of the town 
committee of each political party casting ten 
per centum or more of the total vote of the 
town at the last previous general election, 
such number of copies as may be necessary to 
supply the chairman or clerk of each political 
primary or caucus to be held in such town, 
city, or borough, as the case may be, before 
the making of the next corrected enrolment 
list as herein required, with one complete set 
of such lists. The chairman of said town 
committee shall deliver copies thereof to the 
chairman or clerk of each caucus or primary 
meeting. Should there be no chairman of 
a town committee of any political party com¬ 
ing under the provisions of this act, the town 
clerk shall furnish the chairman or clerk of 
each such caucus or primary meeting with the 
list hereinbefore specified. No petition brought 
under the provisions of section eight shall 


II 


operate to delay the completion and printing 
of the lists provided for herein. If the peti¬ 
tion of any elector is granted after any such 
list is completed, the registrar or deputy reg¬ 
istrar, as the case may be, shall issue to such 
elector a certificate in the same manner as 
provided in section ten, and such certificate 
shall have the same force and effect as in the 
case of a person made an elector after a regu¬ 
lar session of the registrars and prior to the 
election next succeeding such session as herein 
provided. 

Sec. 10. Whenever any 

„ , , person shall have been 

Enrolment of an , , . 

doctor made such . m^de an elector after a 
after a regular ses- regular session of the reg- 

sion of registrars, istrars and prior to the 

and declaring his election next succeeding 
political preference. , . , , 

such session, such elector, 

upon application to the 
proper registrar having jurisdiction in the 
town, voting district, or ward in which such 
elector is entitled to vote, and upon making 
a statement of his political preference, shall 
receive from the registrar to whom the appli¬ 
cation is made a certificate showing that such 
elector is entitled to enrolment upon the list 
of the party named in said application; and, 
upon the presentation of such certificate to 
the chairman of any caucus or primary held 
prior to such election, and in which primary 
or caucus such elector would be legally entitled 
to participate if regularly enrolled, said certifi- 


12 


cate shall have the same effect as though such 
elector had been enrolled on the list of the 
political party named in said application. 
Said registrars shall keep a record of all cer¬ 
tificates issued, and at the time of making the 
next corrected enrolment list shall add the 
name of any elector to whom a certificate has 
been issued to the party list of those having 
the same political preference, unless such 
elector has ceased to be an elector in said 
town, voting district, or ward, as the case 
may be, or unless otherwise directed by such 
elector. 

Sec. II. Upon the oral 
or written application of 
any elector enrolled as 
aforesaid, at any session of 
said registrars, said regis¬ 
trars shall erase the name 
of the elector making such 
application from the list on which said name 
appears, or shall transfer the same from said 
list to any other party list kept by said regis¬ 
trars, as such elector shall direct. In towns, 
cities, or boroughs divided into voting dis¬ 
tricts or wards, and for which deputy regis¬ 
trars are provided, when an elector shall re¬ 
move from one ward to another, or from one 
district to another, said deputy registrars 
shall, upon oral application or written notice 
from an elector, at any session of said deputy 
registrars, except as otherwise provided, 
transfer the name of such elector from the 


Erasures may be 
made ftom one 
party list and trans¬ 
ferred to another 
upon application. 


13 


list on which it appears to such list as the 
elector shall direct. 

Sec. 12. All written or 

Applications to bo applications for en- 

preserved by reg- rolment shall be preserved 
istrars and filed by said registrars, and at 
with town clerk. completion of each en¬ 

rolment said applications 
shall be arranged in alphabetical order and 
filed with the town clerk. 

Sec. 13. At any caucus 
Caucus and primary or primary meeting of the 
meetings. enrolled electors of a speci¬ 

fied party in any town, city, 
or borough, or in a ward of a city, or in a 
voting district, said caucus or primary being 
legally called for the nomination of candidates 
to be supported at any state, municipal, or 
town election, or for the election of delegates 
to any political convention, the chairman of 
such caucus or primary meeting shall, upon 
the receipt of a written motion from any per¬ 
son lawfully participating in such caucus or 
primary, calling for a vote by ballot upon any 
or all candidates before the caucus, as said 
motion shall designate, submit such motion 
to a rising vote of said caucus or primary; 
and if twenty-five per centum of the electors 
present and lawfully voting shall vote in favor 
of said motion, the nominations specified in 
said motion shall be made by ballot. Upon 
the passage of such vote, the presiding officer 
of said caucus or primary shall appoint two 


14 


tellers, and before any ballot shall be deposited 
for the choice of any or all candidates, or 
any or all delegates to be chosen at said 
caucus or primary, the name of the elector 
offering to vote shall be given to the clerk 
or secretary of said caucus or primary, and 
said name checked upon the registry list of 
said caucus or primary. 

Sec. 14. Any person un¬ 
lawfully voting or partici¬ 
pating, or attempting to 
vote or participate, in any 
caucus or primary of a 
political party other than 
that of the political party 
with which he shall have 
been enrolled, or, in towns 
divided into wards or voting districts, any 
elector who shall register or vote at any 
caucus or primary in a ward or voting dis¬ 
trict other than the ward or district in which 
said elector is legally entitled to vote at the 
time of such caucus, or any elector who shall 
sign the name of another to a written appli¬ 
cation to register, without the knowledge and 
consent of the person whose name is signed 
thereto, or who shall falsely represent the 
contents of any written or printed form of 
application for enrolment with intent to se¬ 
cure the application of an elector for enrol¬ 
ment upon a list other than that of his true 
political preference, or any registrar or deputy 
registrar of voters who shall refuse or neg- 


Penalty for voting 
or participating or 
attempting to par¬ 
ticipate or vote in 
party primary or 
caucus other than 
that of enrolment. 


15 


lect to hold sessions as provided in this act, 
or who shall refuse or neglect to register an 
elector upon the oral or written application 
of such elector, except as herein provided, 
or who shall refuse or neglect to erase an 
elector’s name as provided in section eleven of 
this act, or who shall register any elector upon 
a party list other than that declared by said 
elector in his application as his political 
preference, or any person who shall fail to 
properly serve any notice or citation required 
by this act when directed so to do by any 
registrar or deputy registrar, or who shall 
make any false return as to any such notice 
or citation, or any chairman of a caucus or 
primary meeting of the enrolled voters of a 
specified party, said caucus or primary being 
legally called for the nomination of candi¬ 
dates to be supported at any state, municipal, 
or town election, or for the election of dele¬ 
gates to any political convention, who shall 
refuse or neglect to comply with the require¬ 
ments of this act, shall be fined not more 
than one hundred dollars, or imprisohed not 
more than sixty days, or both. 

Sec. 15. The provisions 
of this act shall not ex¬ 
tend to any political party 
or political organization 
casting less than ten per 
centum of the total vote of 
any town or city at the last previous general 
election. In case any party or political or- 


Provisions not to 
apply to certain 
political parties or 
organizations. 


16 



ganization shall cast more than ten per centum 
of any such vote, and there shall be no regis¬ 
trar representing such party or organization, 
application for enrolment upon the caucus or 
primary list of such party or organization 
may be made to the town clerk, and such offi¬ 
cer, for the purpose of making such list, shall 
have all the powers and be subject to all of 
the duties conferred by this act upon regis¬ 
trars and deputy registrars. 

Sec. i6 . For the per- 
Compensation of formance of the duties im- 
town clerks, regis- posed by this act, every 
trars and deputy registrar and deputy regis- 
registrars. act^ally engaged there¬ 

in, and every town clerk 
not upon a salary, shall receive such reason¬ 
able compensation and expenses from the town 
for which the enrolment is made as shall be 
approved by the selectmen thereof, and from 
the city or borough for which the enrolment 
is made such sums as shall be approved by 
its common council or warden or burgesses, 
or, where town and city governments are con¬ 
solidated, such sums as shall be approved by 
the common council of such city. 

Sec. 17. Chapter 273 of 
Repeal. the public acts of 1905 is 

hereby repealed. 

Sec. 18. This act shall take effect January 
I, 1910. 

Approved, August 26, 1909. 


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